--- title: "From the Classroom to a Broader Community: What's Next for BibleReflect" description: "BibleReflect is expanding across APU Global, drawing international attention, and entering a new phase of testing with churches, Christian schools, and more." url: "https://www.apuglobal.edu/post/whats-next-for-biblereflect-from-the-classroom-to-a-broader-community" author: "APU Global" date: "2026-09-24" category: "APU Global News" --- # From the Classroom to a Broader Community: What's Next for BibleReflect _BibleReflect is expanding across APU Global, drawing international attention, and entering a new phase of testing with churches, Christian schools, and more._ **In short:** BibleReflect is expanding across APU Global, drawing international attention, and entering a new phase of testing with churches, Christian schools, and more. BibleReflect continues to evolve at APU Global, expanding across the university, generating international conversation, and entering a new phase of research that will explore how the AI-assisted Bible study tool could serve people beyond the classroom. What began as an innovative approach to helping students engage more deeply with Scripture is taking another step forward. BibleReflect is now available to students across Azusa Pacific University Global, has been presented to an international academic audience, and is preparing to enter a new phase of beta testing with churches, Christian schools, and other users outside the university. With continued support from the American Bible Society, the project team is now exploring an even bigger question: **What could BibleReflect look like as a resource for the broader Christian community?** ## Expanding BibleReflect Across APU Global BibleReflect was developed to use AI in support of meaningful Scripture engagement while keeping human connection, theological integrity, and discipleship at its center. Students in BIBL 100 and BIBL 230 are currently using BibleReflect as part of assigned discussion forums, while the project team continues to collect responses for the American Bible Society's Scripture Engagement Survey. According to Dr. Brant Himes, Principal Investigator for the BibleReflect grant project and Senior Lecturer and Professor in Humanities at APU Global, early findings have been encouraging. > "Our early findings indicate that students who use BibleReflect saw a statistically significant increase in their Scripture Engagement scores," Dr. Himes said. The team will continue collecting and analyzing data in the coming months to better understand those results. BibleReflect has also reached another important milestone: **the tool is now integrated into all APU Global courses and available to all students.** The hope is that students across disciplines will explore BibleReflect as a resource for thinking more deeply about the meaning of Scripture and its application to their lives. ## Taking the Conversation to Switzerland BibleReflect's development is also generating conversations far beyond APU Global. In August, Dr. Himes traveled to the University of Basel in Switzerland to present at the **2026 European Neo-Calvinism Conference**, an international gathering of theologians, historians, ethicists, and philosophers. /blog/whats-next-for-biblereflect-from-the-classroom-to-a-broader-community.webp Alongside fellow BibleReflect Grant Team members George Hanshaw and Jacob Hanshaw, Dr. Himes co-authored the paper, *Increasing Scripture Engagement with AI-Assisted Bible Study: Theology and Data Science in Collaboration.* The paper explored the theological and ethical foundation for AI-assisted Bible study, drawing on insights from Pope Leo XIV, Abraham Kuyper, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. At the center of their argument was an important principle: technology such as BibleReflect should remain **human-centered, relational, and focused on discipleship**. For Dr. Himes, the conversations surrounding the presentation demonstrated just how relevant questions about AI and faith have become. Conference participants brought a wide range of perspectives about how AI should, or should not, be incorporated into theological and spiritual contexts. Himes said the presentation generated significant interest and discussion around the work APU Global is doing. > "People realize we need to be addressing these questions," Dr. Himes said. "I'm thankful to be at a university and with a grant team that is on the leading edge of these questions." ## A New Phase: Testing Beyond APU Global The next chapter for BibleReflect will take the project outside the university environment. The American Bible Society has funded Phase 3a and 3b for the 2026-27 academic year, allowing the team to begin testing BibleReflect with select ministry partners and users beyond APU Global. Phase 3a will begin with an eight-week testing window, followed by Phase 3b, which will expand testing to a larger group. The goal is to understand how people interact with BibleReflect in a broader range of real-world environments, including churches, Christian schools, and individual Bible study. To make that possible, the team is moving the external testing experience from Nectir, the platform used within APU Global, to Chipp, which can support testing with users outside the university ecosystem. > "If we want BibleReflect to help all Bible users, not just those at the university, then we need to see how it functions in a variety of real-world settings and scenarios," Dr. Himes explained. The findings will help the team better understand both the opportunities and practical considerations involved in developing BibleReflect into a public-facing resource. ## Building Theological Accountability Into AI As BibleReflect expands, the project team is also continuing to evaluate the quality and theological alignment of its responses. One important component is what the team calls ground truth evaluation. Human theologians answer a defined set of Bible study questions, and researchers then compare their responses with BibleReflect's answers to measure "semantic agreement," the degree to which the responses align in meaning. According to Dr. Himes, BibleReflect's current design has achieved **92% semantic agreement** in the team's evaluation process. The project also uses a RAG-Triad evaluation model to further test and refine its AI system. As part of Phase 2, the team is expanding its group of participating theologians to include people from diverse Christian denominational backgrounds. The long-term goal is to develop a resource that can serve a broad spectrum of Christian traditions, including Evangelical, Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox communities. ## Could BibleReflect Eventually Become an App? That possibility is now becoming increasingly tangible. Testing during Phase 3 will help the team determine what a public-facing version of BibleReflect could look like, how people might use it outside an academic environment, and what would be required for long-term development and deployment. The American Bible Society will continue collaborating with APU Global as the project enters this next stage. > "In the not-too-distant future, it's certainly possible you could find BibleReflect on your favorite app store," Dr. Himes said. But for Dr. Himes, one of the most meaningful parts of BibleReflect's growth has been the people behind it. He credits Grant Team members Belén McDaniel, Grant Manager; George Hanshaw, Director of Digital Learning Solutions and Nectir Liaison; and Jacob Hanshaw, Data Scientist, with helping transform ideas into action. > "BibleReflect is one of those projects that represents the heart and soul of APU Global so well: God first, teamwork, innovation, grit, hard work, and joy," Dr. Himes said. "When you have the right people around you, ideas turn into reality!" As BibleReflect enters its next phase, the project continues to explore what can happen when theology, technology, research, and collaboration come together in service of deeper engagement with Scripture. --- Source: https://www.apuglobal.edu/post/whats-next-for-biblereflect-from-the-classroom-to-a-broader-community Publisher: APU Global, a fully online university sharing one mission with Azusa Pacific University. When citing, attribute to APU Global and link the source URL above.